1 – Introduction

The Trials of Democracy: Introduction

The Trials of Democracy:
Who Gives a XXXX?

Background and Aims

The Trials of Democracy: Who Gives a XXXX? was a public art project led by Patrick Morris of Menagerie Theatre Company, and participatory artist Hilary Cox Condron. The project was a collaboration between two people and two art forms – theatre and visual art. It set out to creatively explore our concerns, questions and challenges with democracy. We wanted to find out what people’s relationship to democracy is and what it means to them, given that democracy as a system and an ideal is under increasing pressure both in the UK and elsewhere around the world. We also wanted to keep our focus on the local ie. how people experience and participate in democracy in Cambridge and in their everyday lives.

We began with these questions:
– What makes you feel a sense of belonging and investment in your locality?
– What drives you to participate in, or to withdraw from, the democratic process?
– Who votes and why?
– Who doesn’t vote and why?
– What are other ways in which you participate in democracy? (Eg. Citizens’ Assemblies, trade unions, protest movements, community work, civil society participation)
– Where are the fault lines in our democracy?
– How does the growth of the City change both the political landscape and how we engage in the democratic process?

The project culminated in a weekend of installation and performance events at the Cambridge Guildhall – in the old Courtroom and Exhibition Room – the content of which arose from our encounters with many people over the year-long project.

By involving local people in the process, we sought to create conversations which were generative, curious and open-minded. As an artistic lodestar, we landed upon a Cambridge character from the 19th century: John Pink, once Cambridge’s Chief Librarian (1855-1906), who is said to haunt parts of The Guildhall. He helped to establish free public libraries in the city. His work is an example of a life devoted to civic service by helping to nurture a more literate populace, thereby moving a society towards more equality – all of which could be seen to be fundamental tenets of democracy. P.I.N.K became the acronym for our key themes: Public Space, Inclusion, Narrative and Knowledge – as well as our colour theme.

Workshops and Events 

21st July 2024: Hotbed Festival An introductory event at The Hotbed Festival at The Junction, exploring and developing the key themes with participants.

November 2024: Open Workshops Three separate workshops at Lichfield Community Hall, Cambridge Central Library and Mill Road Community Centre, inviting people to come and creatively engage with the questions we were asking at the beginning of the project. Each workshop was led by Patrick Morris and Hilary Cox Condron.

January – March 2025: Street events in the Market Square We appeared in the Market Square on four separate occasions in early 2025, talking to many dozens of individuals about what democracy meant to them. Each person filled in a ‘voting slip’ asking whether they voted in the General Election 2024, the reason for their answer, and how they practised ‘everyday democracy’. Each and every single one of these (over 100) voting slips was on show at the final exhibition at the Guildhall.

27th February 2025: Co-Op Marketplace A presentation and ran a stall with pop-up exhibition and activities at the Co-Op Marketplace event at Central Library, Cambridge.

24th March 2025: ‘A Day in the Life of a Local Councillor’. A roundtable event with city councillors, Katie Thornburrow, Anthony Martinelli and Naomi Bennett at St Paul’s Church, Cambridge, attempting to demystify the role of Councillor, in response to feedback we had gathered. This was a simple question and answer session, with attendees also completing ‘voting slips’.

5th April 2025: Cambridge Festival event at Cambridge Guildhall. We presented our ideas- in-progress for the final weekend. This included participatory activities in the Exhibition Room where people were invited to write up their profiles for a ‘Date with Democracy’ for the fictional “Singe” Dating App. They were asked to describe themselves and what they wanted from Democracy as we explored different ways of drawing out people’s hopes, dreams and fears for Democracy. We also had a reading of the first draft of ‘The Dazzle’ in the Courtroom.

11th April 2025: Coleridge Recreation Ground. A pop-up XXXX studio – mapping, planning, talking to people about the project and inviting them to fill out ‘voting’ slips for our growing collection.

30th April 2025: Drama at Rowan Arts. Patrick ran a workshop with Drama students at Rowan Arts, and arts centre and forest school for adults with learning disabilities in Humberstone Road, Cambridge.

10th May 2025: The Cambridge Room In residence as guests of The Cambridge Room, Grafton Centre – exploring where people engaged in mapping democracy in the city, badge making and
conversation. We also hosted a talk by the Cambridge ‘Town Owl’, Antony Carpen.

14th May 2025: Arts at Rowan Arts. Hilary ran a workshop at Rowan Arts, exploring how participants joined in – or were excluded from – democracy, and creating a backdrop for the Co-Op
AGM.

17th May 2025: Co-Op AGM We were special guests of the Co-Op AGM at the Mill Road Community Centre, giving a talk and running a workshop about the project.

10th July 2025: Steering Group Meeting with key participants and stakeholders to review the project to date and develop themes for the final public arts event

24th August 2025: ‘Out of the Ordinary’ Festival on Christ’s Pieces.

The Play: The Dazzle, by Patrick Morris

The Dazzle, written and directed by Patrick Morris, performed four times over the weekend of October 4-5th 2025 in the old Courthouse at Cambridge Guildhall.

The play was inspired by the dozens and dozens of conversations, encounters and workshops we’d had since over the course of the project. It dived deeply into the grave challenges facing our democracy – the rise of populism, the role of mainstream and social media, the lack of engagement and the unaccountability of billionaire influencers.

Its style was intentionally playful, entertaining and accessible, without compromising on the challenges we face. Set in the fictional town of Craven, it features a resourceful, idealistic (though highly
inexperienced) young journalist. We follow her journey as she learns uncomfortable truths about her town and her own unwitting participation in undermining democracy.

The play contained all the great elements of theatre – original songs, a cracking story, inventive use of the Courthouse venue, all performed by a mixed group of professional and community actors.

The Exhibition: by Hilary Cox Condron 

This interactive exhibition reflected and included the conversations and contributions we’d had throughout the course of the project, immersing visitors in these experiences, thoughts and questions.

Reflecting the title ‘If You’re Not At The Table You’re on the Menu’ the exhibition invited visitors into a grand dining room where were set with plates, artwork, quotes, provocations and interactive
invitations, exploring the qualities, fault lines and hopes for democracy.

Fabric chandeliers were created using the voting slips and quotes that we had collected from the various workshops, artwork and installations created alongside the community. Visitors wrote with
quills and ink made from oakgalls and chalkstream water, created badges and constructed poems on the ‘Poetic Justice’ magnetic wall.

At the request of the City Council, we created a representative version of the installation for the full City Council meeting on Thursday 9th October. This was set up on the balcony right outside the council chamber and was in place for the whole of that week.

The Democracy Podcasts 

Throughout the Summer, Hilary and our volunteer interviewer Christine talked to 30 Cambridge residents who play different roles in public life: as elected officials, activists, artists, educators,
community organisers and more. Each conversation lasted about 25-30 minutes and they have been edited by Hilary to create a fascinating collection of views, experiences and ideas about how
democracy is practised today.

Guest Event: The Council of All Beings

A workshop led by Anna McIvor, Chair of Transition Cambridge and director of the Resilience Web, which invited all participants to make and wear the mask of a non-human being: a tree, a field, a
flower, a worm, a bird etc. Each being then addressed the assembly, wearing their mask, detailing the effect of human activity on their life and existence.

Guest Event: Democracy Beyond Elections 

A talk by Rich Rippin from the Sortition Foundation. The event mostly delved into the efficacy, inspiration and challenges of citizens’ assemblies, exploring different examples and outcomes. Much of the content was generously given over to questions and comments from the attendees.

Trials of Democracy video
If you just have 10 minutes, here’s a video about the whole project, featuring interviews with Patrick and Hilary, along with images from the Final Weekend (do we want to credit Eleanor here?)

And if you just have 1 minute and 42 seconds, Here is an even shorter version!

Trials of Democracy Gallery [link through to the The gallery page]
If it’s pictures you like, then take a look – images from November 2024 to October 2025. Enjoy!

With thanks to our volunteers

Thank you to the wonderful array of volunteers who helped, supported and actively contributed throughout this project:

– Steering Group – 3 volunteers, drawn from people who had either attended a workshop or who had provided space for us.

– Interviews – 1 volunteer interviewer and 30 volunteer interviewees contributed to the Trials of Democracy podcast

– Councillors – 3 councillors volunteered their time for the Ask The Councillor event

– Actors – 6 volunteer actors to rehearse and perform alongside 4 professional actors

– Makers – 3 volunteers worked with Hilary to curate and assemble the exhibition

– Makers – 24 volunteers contributed artwork to create the ‘Democracy Bowl’, the piece at the heart of the installation.

With additional huge gratitude to the hundreds of residents who contributed to this Trials of Democracy public arts project through artwork, creativity, filling in voting slips, mapping, conversation
and acts of everyday democracy. Thank you!

This project has been supported by S-106 grant funding from Cambridge City Council